Jackson Racing M45 Supercharger Install

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Jackson Racing

M45 Supercharger

Installation

I bought a Jackson Racing M45 supercharger from my friend Roger when he upgraded to a turbocharger. He had run the supercharger for about 50,000 miles without issue. I hope I can get as many trouble free miles as he did.

I did a few upgrades prior to installing the supercharger. I replaced the brakes with Hawk Performance HPS brake pads, rebuilt the calipers and installed new rotors on all four wheels.

I installed a 2001 exhaust manifold since it is better flowing than the 2000 manifold.

I installed new stronger engine mounts.

I also installed a Flyin Miata stage 1 prior to installing the supercharger. My clutch had slipped on a couple of occasions already and I wanted it to be reliable. I don’t like unreliable cars.

Of course I also did all the maintenance that should be done when the engine and transmission are removed. New rear main seal, front and rear transmission seals, shifter boots, cleaned the intake manifold and anything else that was worn or should be replaced to avoid future maintenance.

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Roger sent me the Power Card and instructions on how to install it ahead of me visiting. So, I was able to make all the wiring harness changes and install the vacuum line. I used the same route for the vacuum line I had used on the VVT installation before.

I installed the Power card and did not power it up until installing the supercharger. All I had to do to put it into service was remove a jumper and install a fuse to finish the installation. I soldered all the connections to the wiring near the PCM just as I did the VVT installation.

I purchased another throttle body and sent it to Roger since the throttle body used with the supercharger had to be modified. That saved a lot of time. Roger was able to install the one I had purchased when he removed the supercharger prior to my visit. All I had to do was bolt on the one he had modified.

I did not take many pictures of the install since I was visiting Roger in Alabama when I installed it. Roger had it removed and ready to install. All I had to do was bolt it on and make the connections. He was working on his turbocharger install while I worked on the supercharger. I was able to get the supercharger running on my car in about 6 hours with help from Roger at strategic times.

The car is really fun with the supercharger. It is not the biggest one out there and it does not make a lot of boost. But, it adds noticeable power gain and the car will really scoot. The only problems I have found is it must be fed 93 octane which is more expensive and I cannot keep my foot out of it. However, mileage is still around 29 mpg on trips at 70 mph. I drove it to Charlotte to pick up a hardtop and the mileage never fell below 28.5 mpg. The worst it has been is 25 mpg around town.

Thanks Roger, I love the supercharger!

Update 11/23/2015

I purchased a 62.5 mm nose pulley for the supercharger from a Miata.net member in October of 2014. I put it on the shelf for some reason and forgot about it. I recently found it again and decided to install it to squeeze a little more boost out of the M45.

The original 67.5 mm nose pulley had to be removed.

Hitting the pulley with a hammer or prying against the case can only lead to damage or worse hidden damage. So, I used a two arm puller. It was really tight, but it finally came off.

The new pulley fit back on perfectly. The belt I was using also fit so I did not have to find the next size down.

The the 67.5 mm pulley was making about 4 psi. The new 62.5 mm pulley makes closer to 6 psi. That is a pretty good gain for just swapping a pulley!

02/13/2013